Firearm cartridge protector



ZHZS

July 32, 3955 H. 51AM/ANT FIRERM CARTRIDGE PROTECTOR Filed May 22, 1952 FIREARM CARGE PROTECTR Horace St. Amant, Cheshire, Conn., assigner to @lin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Applicaon May 22, 1952, Serial No. 289,281

5 Claims. (Cl. l2-50) This invention relates to firearms of the box-magazine type.

There has been considerable complaint about the damage suffered by cartridges in the steel magazines of firearms or guns caused by the recoil of the latter on ring, and the dangers involved in tiring these damaged cartridges. Especially severe criticism in this respect has been voiced by many big-game hunters who frequently find high-power soft-nosed cartridges in the magazines of theirguns so battered as to render them useless and even dangerous for firing. Thus, cartridges of the softnose type are frequently iiattened or otherwise deformed in the magazine by the guns recoil and the ensuing impact between the cartridges and magazine, with the result that these deformed cartridges will frequently jam in the gun when advanced into the ring chamber, or Will take an erratic course if they do not jam in the gun and are fired. It requires little imagination to realize how exasperating and even dangerous gun failure from this source is to game hunters. Thus, any jammed cartridge will most likely not be noticed by a hunter until the very moment when game is in the sight of his gun and he wants to re, resulting in frequent loss of game, not to mention wasted cartridges. Moreover, hunters sometimes endanger their lives when gun failure from this source occurs at an encounter with big game of the dangerous variety. The recoil of a gun is also damaging to stcel-jacketed cartridges in the magazine thereof. Thus, the impact between these cartridges and the magazine in consequence of the recoil of the gun will frequently drive a steel jacket deeper into its cartridge case,

with the result that there is insufficient expansion space in the latter when the same is fired and excessive pressures develop therein which may well burst the cartridge case and even cause damage to the gun itself. it follows, therefore, that even the latest firearms of the box-magazine type are not only unreliable in their performance and sometimes a source of great exasperation to the user, but involve some risk to the users welfare as well.

Accordingly, it is the primary aim and object of the present invention to provide a gun of the box-magazine type which is not afflicted with any of the above-mentioned serious defects in performance, and which is instead reliable in its performance at all times and involves no personal danger to the user despite the recoil of the gun with every shot.

This object has been accomplished by Carl E. Ruple whose earlier conceived rubber shock-absorbing pad on the front wall of the box-magazine of a firearm is fully disclosed in his copending application Serial No. 288,815, tiled May 20, 1952.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in the box-magazine of a gun a metal shock absorber which will hardly showany signs of wear even after long use and will not be adversely affected by the powder gases and heat to which the magazine is subjected in normal use of the gun, and which will greatly reduce, if not eliminate altogether, the impact between the magazine and the Patented Juiy l2, 1955 Another object of the present invention is to provide in the magazine of a gun of this type a metal shock absorber which does not require any changes in the conventional construction of the various gun parts, except a minor change or changes in the magazine itself.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a metal shock absorber of the aforementioned type which is of exceedingly simple construction, lends itself to ecient mass production at very low cost, and may J readily be assembled with magazines of guns at the factory or replaced therein at any timeg by the owner of a .I gun.

act with the locking shoulders 14 of the receiver to lockv Further objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

ln the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are short-'n for illustrative purposes:

Fig. l is a side View of a magazine-type gun embody- .ing the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary partsectional and part-elevational view of a part of the gun shown in Eig. l;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the gun as taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the magazine used in the gun;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the magazine; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of detail element of the magazine. Y

For the purpose of describing the invention, the same is shown incorporated in the box-magazine of a boltaction type of firearm. lt will be appreciated, however, that the particular firearm illustrated herein is merely for the purpose of describing one application of the invention and that the latter is applicable to other firearms of' pull-back breech-bolt 316. The breech-bolt in is adapted to reciprocate in the central bore i7 of the receiver which has a loading and ejecting opening in the top wall thereof intermediate its opposite ends. The locking lugs 1S of the bolt 16 are adapted to slide in guide grooves of the receiver and to be rotated through a quarter' turn when the bolt islin its extreme forward position to cof the bolt in breech-closing'position.

The receiver and barrel assembly is mounted on a solid stock 19 and secured thereto by assembling-screws 20. The stock 19 is provided with a box-magazine rec'eiving aperture 2i. which is substantially in alignment with the opening 18 of the receiver. The open bottom end of the aperture 21 in the stock is adapted by a oor plate 22 which is hinged at its forward end to the underside of the stock by means of a hinge-strap 23 which is seated in a recessein the stock and secured therein by one of the aforesaid assembling-screws 2G. The rear end of the hinged floor plate 22 is adapted to be engaged by a spring-loaded latch 24 which serves to hold the floor plate in its normal closed position (Fig. 2).

Mounted in the aperture 21 in the stock 19 is' a boxmagazine 25 in the form of a substantially rectangular sheet-metal frame having opposite side walls 25a and opposite end walls 2.511 arranged to engage securely the adjacent walls of the aperture 2 (Figs. 2 and 3). The open bottom of the box-magazine 25 is normally closed by the hinged oor plate 22.

The box-magazine 25 is of the top-loading type adapted to accommodate a column of staggered cartridges c for their successive feed into the breech of the barrel 13 for chambering by the breech-bolt 16, the feed means for the cartridges in the box-magazine 25 comprising a cartridge follower Z5 and a follower spring 26a for supporting and actua g the follower 26. The lower end of the follou-'cr sr .g 26a is releasably secured to the hinged iloor plate ZZ, and to this end the upper surface of the floor plate Zi. is provided with a relatively shallow recess Z7 (Figs. and 3), having a front end wall. 2S and a rear end wali 2.3i, the over-all length of the recess' 27 being somewhat greater' than the length of the lowermost leaf 3l? of the follower spring 26a. The width of the recess 27 corresponds substantially to the width of the aforesaid leaf 3i) of the follower spring 26a, and the spring leaf 36 is adapted to be seated in the recess 2'/ in the iloor piate For releasably mounting the bottom leaf n) of the follower spring 26a in the recess 27, the opposite side walls of the recess adjacent the forward end of the latter are provided with inwardly projecting overhang' lips 3l (Figs. 2 and 4) beneath which the free end spring leaf 3i) is securely held in the recess The follower 26 is in the form of a relatively stiff sheet-metal strip which is slightly curved cross-sectionally and has its opposite side margins 32 turned inwardly (Fig. 3) so as to reenforce the strip and afford a seat against which rests the top-most leaf 33 of the follower spring 26e. The inwardly turned side margins 3?, ot the provided intermediate their respective len townwardly offset portions 32a, respectively, which are turned inwardly to form opposite. lips or securely holding the follower 26 on the top ieaf 35 of the fc"ower spring 26a. By unlatching the hinged floor plate Z?. and swinging it' open, the cartridge follower and follower spring 26a are withdrawn from the box-magazine 25, in which case the follower Z6 and its spring 25a may' readily be detached as a unit from the floor plate 22.

The gun described so far may be entirely conventional in every respect and forms no part of the present invention. The invention to be described presently lies in the provision ck absorber 35 in the cartridge magazine 25 and 6). The shock absorber 35 is, in the present instance, in the form of a leaf-type spring which is mounted in the magazine 2.5 near the front wall 2531 t heeft. En the example shown, the leaf spring 35 attends across the side walls 25a of the magazine 25 with clearance from the adjacent front wall 25b thereof, and the leaf spring is provided with opposite ears which are received in aligned slots 37 in the opposite. sidewalls 25a, respectively, of the magazine for the secure, though releasable, anchorage of the leaf spring in the magazine. Preferably, the leaf spring 35 is permanently pre-bent (Fig. 7), and `is also preferably somewhat llexcd or pre-loaded when anchored with its ears 36 in the respective slots 37 in the magazine, so that the remaining side edges 38 of the spring (see also Fig. '7) normally bear with a yielding force against the adjacent side walls 25u of the magazine. Preferably also, the portion of the anchored and pre-loaded leaf spring 3S nearest to the front wall 25h' of the magazine is in such proximity to this front wall ZSb' (Figs. 5 and 6) that the spring 35 may resiliently be bent into engagement therewith without permitting the ears 36 of the spring to leave their respective slots 37, with the result that the spring will, on release, return to the normai position shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 6. Further, the ears 36 of the leaf spring 35 are preferably so short that they do not, or onl very slightly, project beyond the respective slots 37 in the magazine so as not to interfere with the usual tight mount of the' vlatter in the receiving aperture 21 in the stock 19. As shown in Fig. 2, the magazine 25 is preferably of such length that the cartridges c therein fit between the rear wall 25b" 0f the magazine 25 and the shock absorber spring 35 therein suiciently loosely to permit ready loading of the magazine with cartridges and the unimpeded feed of the latter into chambering position by the spring-urged follower 26, without allowing these cartridges any appreciable longitudinal play. Thus, with the exception of the uppermost cartridge in the magazine Whose nose c is spaced from the adjacent receiver 10 sufficiently to preclude any impact with the latter on a recoil of the gun. the noses of the other cartridges c in the magazine arc closely adjacent the shock absorber spring 35 and will resiliently bend the latter momentarily toward the adv jacent front wall 25h' of the magazine on each recoil of the gun without appreciable, if any,v damage to the crtridges.

It is by the simple expediency of this shock absorber spring 35 that the' hereinbefore mentioned serious defects in the performance of conventional box-magazine firearms are overcome, and the latter are rendered reliable in their performance and no longer involve any personal danger to the users thereof. The instant shock absorber spring 35 is further eminently practical for manufacturing and assembly reasons. Thus, the shock absorber spring will reliably perform its designated function without requiring any structural changes either in the conventional cartridges or in the conventional construction of the various gun parts other than the provision of the aligned slots 37 in the opposite side walls 25a, respectively, of the magazine. Further, the shock absorber spring does not in the least interfere with the accustomed loading and handling of the gun. The shock absorber spring further adds neither bulk nor weight of any consequence to the gun. Of great importance is the fact that the instant shock absorber spring 35 has a long useful life. Thus, the shock absorber spring will hardly show any signs of wear even after long use, and will not be adversely affected by the powder gases and heat to which the magazine is subjected in the .normal use of the gun'. Finally, the shock absorber spring is an exceedingly simple article which lends itself to efticient mmf;- production at very low cost, and may readily be assembled wi'th magazines of guns at the factory or later replaced therein at any time by the owners of these guns. merely by snapping the ears of the spring into the aligned slots in the magazine.

While the sho-cl; absorber spring 35 is incorporated in theboX-magazine of the double-column cartridge .feed type shown by way of example in the drawings, it is obvious that the shock absorber spring may bc incorporatedpreferably pre-bent (Fig. 7) to achieve more favorable' spring characteristics for the purpose in mind. For instance, the pre-bent shock absorber spring will underA agiven force flex less than a non-bent spring of the' same gauge steel, wherefore the pre-bent shock absorber spring' is preferable in the interest of economy as well as from the standpoint of light weight and ease of handling of' the spring. Also, the shock absorber spring may' bc anchored in the magazine in ways other than that shown and perform its designated function to equal advantage. Thus, by way of example, the shock absorber spring would satisfactorily perform its designated function if one side of the same were rigidly or permanently mounted on the adjacent sidewall of the magazine, while the other side of the spring has an ear 36 received in the slot 37 in the other sidewall of the magazine.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A recoil-absorbing box-magazine for use with a firearm, comprising a rigid frame having opposite sidewalls and opposite endwalls for the reception of a plue rality of cartridges in orderly column arrangement, said sidewalls being provided with aligned slots, respectively, near one endwall of the frame confronting the noses of the inserted cartridges; and a leaf-type spring in said frame extending across said sidewalls thereof and having opposite ear extensions received in said aligned slots of said sidewalls, respectively, for the releasable anchorage of said spring in said frame, said leaf spring confronting those noses of the inserted cartridges in said frame which are within the confines of the latter, and

being resiliently bent on impact with the adjacent cartridge noses.

2. A recoil-absorbing box-magazine as set forth in claim l, in which said leaf spring is normally resiliently bent between said sidewalls toward said one endwall of the frame.

3. A recoil-absorbing box-magazine as set forth in claim 1, in which said leaf spring is permanently curvilinearly pre-bent and normally further resiliently bent between said sidewalls toward said one endwall of the frame.

4. A recoil-absorbing box-magazine as set forth in claim 1, in which said leaf spring is permanently curvilinearly pre-bent toward said one endwall of the magazine and said ear extensions extend in the curvilinear plane of said spring, and said slots are sufliciently wide to permit unobstructed movement therein of said ear extensions when said leaf spring is resiliently bent on irnpact with the adjacent cartridge noses.

5. A recoil-absorbing box-magazine as set forth in claim 1, in which said leaf spring is normally resiliently bent between said sidewalls toward said one endwall of the frame and said ear extensions extend curvilinearly with said spring, and said slots are sufficiently wide to permit unobstructed movement therein of said ear extensions when said leaf spring is further resiliently bent on impact with the adjacent cartridge noses.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 304,008 Krug Aug. 26, 1884 513,237 Kimball Jan. 23, 1894 1,227,439 Hilgendorf May 27, 1917 2,507,364 Benson May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 35,539 Austria Dec. 10, 1908 

